Lover Lay Down
by At A Venture
Summary: Sookie/Amelia/Eric/Bill/Sam/Quinn/Calvin/Claudine/Alcide. Amelia has insomnia, and turns to magic for a miracle cure. But all goes wrong when Amelia puts Sookie to sleep instead!
1. Amelia

_Note: This story is told from multiple points of view. The chapter title will reveal that POV. Keep your eye on the title to avoid confusion! Thanks for reading and enjoy!_**  
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**Lover Lay Down**

_Amelia_

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Just lay your head on the pillow and close your eyes. Close your eyes and you'll drift off. It will just happen. Like…well, not like magic. You know, magic would make this so much easier. No! No, Amelia, you need to learn how to sleep on your own. Okay, maybe if I meditate? Maybe…

I adjusted myself on the bed, crossing my legs under my ass. I couldn't pull off that yoga lotus move. How do women do that kind of thing, anyway? I can get one foot up, but the other one just lays there all helpless and hopeless and sad. And then, of course, my toes fall asleep. That just messes up my concentration. Pins and needles in your big toe…yeah, that's no fun. What was I doing? Oh right, meditating.

Clear your mind. You will not think about Bob sitting on your pillow and purring. Wow, he really made a much better cat than a person. Oh come on, Amelia, like you wouldn't be grumpy if you'd been shitting in an enclosed plastic box for a month. Maybe Sookie would agree to get a new kitten? Every witch needs a good kitten. Didn't Sookie tell me she used to have one? I wonder what happened to it. Oh…oh right, cat murder. Poor thing. Poor Sookie. Anyway, if we get a new cat, we should adopt it from the shelter. Those poor kitties shouldn't have to grow up in four by four cages. What was I doing? Oh right, trying to meditate. Oh yeah, that's going well.

Well maybe this is the best way to clear out the mind, by going over all the things that are bugging me. What's next? The new regime. You know, before I met Sookie Stackhouse, I never cared much about vampire politics. Hadley never really mentioned the politics before. She just came and went with the queen, and I rarely heard a peep out of her. But with Sookie? Sookie's in deeper than…than something really deep. I mean, that girl is up to her ass in vampire politics. Mm, of course, if I liked my men cold-blooded and pale skinned, I wouldn't mind exchanging vampire politics for a few nights in Eric Northman's bed. Yum. Oh yum. That man really brings out the straight girl in me. I wonder if they're actually sleeping together anymore. I've heard that vampires are really, really great in the sack. Pam…well, we're getting there.

Well, now that I'm horny. No, no, you're meditating, not masturbating! Why is this so difficult? I couldn't feel sleepy right now if I tried! I wish I was one of those girls that could get themselves off and then just pass out. That would solve *all* of my problems. All of them. Every. Last. One.

I wonder how Dad is doing with the new regime. Not that I care what Dad does, it's his business. Okay, I care. I give a damn about what Copley Carmichael does. But I'll never admit it to him! The minute he knows, I know he'll just swoop down into my life again and try to wreck stuff. I don't want to be in the family business, Dad! How many times do I have to tell you!?

This isn't working.

I got up and stretched. My pajamas were bunched up around my thighs, so I pushed them down with the arches of my feet. I deliberately squirmed as if Bob would follow me down off the bed, but of course he didn't. Because he wasn't there anymore. Sad face. As soon as I was up, I wandered down the stairs. The boards creaked under my feet. With every step, I prayed that I wouldn't wake Sookie. It was just after three, and she'd probably fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was so lucky! If I made it to the kitchen, I could make a little more noise.

Hot cocoa? Check. Furniture polish? Check. Clean rags? Check. I went into the dining room (that we never used) and cleaned like I had never cleaned before. I rubbed every nook and cranny of the ancient maple chairs. I dusted, and then vacuumed the upholstery. I wiped down the table, grabbed the silver polish, and sat down on the floor to polish every single spoon, knife, fork, and dish in the cabinet. When the sun rose over the horizon, I was still polishing.

"Okay, Amelia," I said out loud to the quiet house. "You can't go on like this. Eventually you will run out of things to clean. Then you'll end up in one of those internet chat rooms with robotic sex hounds and creepy stalkers. This has got to stop!" I got up off the floor and put away the last of the clean silver. Sookie had wandered into the kitchen and she looked up at me. I waved, put away the cocoa mug I had washed hours ago, and stomped back up the stairs to the second story of the old farmhouse.

I slumped onto the bed and pulled out my laptop. With a few clicks of the mouse, I was surfing the web. I pulled up Google and began typing. Sleeping spells. I need to sleep. The net was full of them of course, but I needed one that wouldn't put me to sleep immediately or knock me out forever or make me sleep during the day and keep me up all night long.

While I browsed the net forums, I flicked through my spell book. I knew there would be nothing in there, but maybe if I combined a charm from the book with a spell from the net, I could make the magic portable. Maybe I could stick my nose in a jar when I was ready for bed or something.

"Ooh, here we go," I exclaimed to the empty room. The spell was called, "Lovers of Sleep" according to the translation of the text. Perfect. I was a lover of sleep. Hell, who *doesn't* love sleep? Although, looking at the ingredients, I needed to head out to the occult shop. Hm. That involved some driving to Shreveport.

"But I don't want to drive to Shreveport!"

Screw it, I could make do.

Most of the day dawdled by while I collected sands and ground powders and boiled water. I dug around in the depths of my trunk and pulled out a white beeswax candle. It was true that the spell called for a black candle, and sure, that made a difference, but darn it, I was not driving a half hour to Shreveport for black wax! Maybe I could just, I don't know, paint it black. No one would ever know the difference.

I found some water colors in Sookie's linen closet (though why they were there is beyond me) and painted the candle black. It looked sort of sloppy and dirty when it had dried, but that didn't matter. No biggie.

Downstairs, the back door opened and shut again. Sookie was home from work. Perfect timing! There was only one more thing I needed, and it wasn't something I could buy at the store. Octavia was, unfortunately, out of town with my former coven doing some sort of elaborate ritual that I wasn't invited to attend. Not that I'm bitter… Sookie was the closest thing I had to a real coven, and while that wasn't very close, she did have a little magic in her. I skipped back down the stairs, a little elated by the promise of forty winks, and ran into Sookie as she walked out of her bedroom.

She was wearing a really pretty sundress that floated around her knees and ankles like it was made of water, or maybe air. Sookie isn't my type at all (and she's like a sister to me), but lordy, she looked good enough to eat. I grinned at her.

"Hey Sookie!" Okay, maybe a little too perky.

"There's no way. I have to go to Shreveport anyway."

Darn it, she'd already read my mind. Okay, so I didn't mind so much. I love it when she does that!

"Come on, Sookie," I begged. "It'll only take a couple of minutes. The sun has barely set! Please, please, please…"

She sighed at me, ho hummed a little, and inclined her head. That was the closest thing I was getting to a yes. I took her by the hand and marched her up the stairs to the second floor.

"Okay," I began, sitting on the floor. I pointed to a spot opposite me and she sat. "So what I need you to do is take this," I handed her a pinch of black sand, "and sprinkle it over the flame at the same time that I do. Then we both say 'lover, lay down' and you blow the candle out. Got it?"

"Lover, lay down?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah." What's wrong with that?

"Fine." She frowned at me, but she held up her handful of sand and waited for me to do the incantation.

I murmured the spell, mostly in Latin, which I admit isn't a language I actually know. Then we both held up our handfuls of sand and sprinkled them over the little orange flame on my slightly grayish candle. We whispered the words at the same time, _lover lay down, _and Sookie bent down to blow out the candle.

And then Sookie Stackhouse fell backward against my chest of drawers, hit her head with a deafening and startling crashed, and was instantly asleep.

Oh shit!

"Sookie!" I yelped and got up from the floor. I shimmied over to her and shook her by the shoulders. She didn't rouse. Oh crap! Crap crap crap! I had read in the witch forums about this new phenomenon called an OSM, an Oh Shit Moment. This was one of those. Oh shit oh shit oh shit!

"Do over!" I yelled at my little grayish white candle, like that would make a difference. It didn't. I glanced back at the spell, but it was all Greek to me (okay, Latin, but same difference!). I grabbed Sookie again and shook her. Her head bobbed in a way that scared me, like the way a rag doll's head flops around. Gross. She wouldn't wake up, and I didn't want to make the bump on her head worse. Oh ew, was that blood on my underwear drawer? Oh damn it, I'd broken my landlady!

I grabbed the phone.

"Octavia!" I shrieked into the receiver as soon as it picked up. There was some mumbling, grumbling, dead air, and then Octavia had retrieved the phone.

"Amelia, I am in the middle of a ritual. What do you want?"

"I broke Sookie!"

"You…what?"

"Sookie! I was doing a sleeping spell because I can't sleep and now Sookie is asleep! Help!"

"Okay, calm down. What was the spell?"

I explained the spell with as much detail as I could remember. I told her about my painted candle, my ingredients, the black sand, and the words at the end.

"Lover lay down?" She confirmed. "That's the end of the spell?"

"Yeah! It's called Lovers of Sleep!"

"That's Sleep for Lovers, Amelia! Oh Great Goddess. Look, there's only one way to break the spell."

"Well what is it?!"

"True love's kiss," Octavia said firmly.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No."

"True love's kiss? What, like Snow White?"

"Nearly. This is a kiss of mutual love, mutual true love. I will work on a counter spell, but I cannot return until after the ritual. Sookie has a great many admirers. I would give them a call if I were you."

"There has to be another way…" I murmured.

"Amelia! Listen to me. Do NOT perform a counter-spell without my explicit permission. You are forbidden from performing further magics without assistance. I will see you in a week's time with a counter-spell. Call Sookie's admirers. That is an order!"

"Yes, Ma'am," I sighed into the phone.


	2. Sookie

**Lover Lay Down**

_Sookie _

I walked into the house and shut the door behind me. The sun was just setting over the horizon, and though there were still wisps of pink in the clouds, I could see the stars. It was going to be a beautiful night and a warm one too. I'd bought the perfect dress to make the Viking go crazy with arousal. I could see his dark blue eyes rolling over me, from the tips of my painted toenails to the crown of my blond head. Those tight jeans he always wore would have to strain to contain him.

Okay Sookie, calm down. You haven't slept with Eric in nearly a year.

But I could still remember, vividly, what his hands felt like between my thighs. I wanted him, and for a second, I didn't care about all the politics and baggage that came along behind his tight behind.

I could hear Amelia fiddling around upstairs, so I shouted a greeting at her before walking into my bedroom. I closed the door and turned on the light. I'd left the gown out on the hook over the back of my door. It looked even more gorgeous in the low lamp light. Perfect. It was absolutely perfect for a warm Louisiana night.

In the bathroom, I smoothed soft body butter over my skin. It smelled like morning glories, a musky floral scent that filled the room. I inhaled it with a little giggle. Yep, Eric would be begging for it. He'd be head over heels with lust. Can't wait to see the look on his face.

I tied my hair back in a low knot beneath the curve of my skull, and a bunch of strands fell forward around my cheeks. Perfect. I put on just a bit of makeup, just enough to accent my lips and the blue in my eyes. I'd been tanning since April, and now, in mid-May, I had the perfect mildly bronze glow.

From the underwear drawer, I pulled out a lacy convertible bra and adjusted it so that the strap looped around my neck. Sure, that position might bother me later (breasts are heavy!), but it was worth it to wear the dress without straps showing. I added a matching lavender lace thong to the ensemble and went to grab the dress off the back of the door. It practically fell from the hanger; it was so fine and silky. There was no zipper, so I pulled it down over my head and poked my arms through either side. The gown had no back, and I was thankful that the dragon scars I'd earned a year ago had faded considerably. The halter strap tied behind my neck, and the gown curved over my skin, completely open, until the seams took up again just above the dimples of my hips. Oh yeah, I looked good.

The gown was perfect, just a light shimmery blue organza silk with a sheer layer cascading over the top. I checked myself out in front of the mirror, turning one way and then the other. Eric's tongue would loll out of his mouth. Maybe he'd fall on the floor and drool. He'd definitely try to sweep me up and fuck me against the wall in his office. Ooh, or maybe he'd shove everything off the desk and throw me over it. My knees wobbled a little. I slid my painted toenails into a pair of silver slip-on sandals.

"Hey, Sookie!" Amelia grinned at me when I stepped into the hallway, a small evening bag tucked under my elbow. I could hear her broadcasting all the way down the stairs, and there she was in front of me. _I need help with a spell. Please don't say no._

"There's no way. I have to go to Shreveport anyway." I frowned at her and shook my head. All I could think about was the eight ways from Sunday Eric would want to screw me when he saw me. I didn't really need to be in Shreveport until the club opened (in four hours…), but I didn't want to be stuck in the house until then.

"Come on, Sookie," she begged me, sticking out her lower lip in a profound pout. "It'll only take a couple of minutes. The sun has barely set! Please, please, please…" She held out on the last 'e' in "please" for a solid twenty seconds. I sighed. I had really wanted some gelato from the Shreveport summers-only ice cream shop. I knew it would calm me down a little (unless I thought about Eric dipping his penis in the cream and having me lick it off, which I was **not** thinking about…). Finally I nodded at her, slightly.

Amelia grabbed me by the arm and wrenched me up to the second floor.

"Okay," Amelia said when she'd indicated that I should sit on the floor opposite her. I pulled up my dress and sat down, cross-legged on the floor. I didn't want to wrinkle the fabric by kneeling on top of it.

"So what I need you to do is take this," Amelia was going on. She held out a pinch of unnaturally colored fine-grain sand. I put out my palm and she poured it out, "and sprinkle it over the flame at the same time I do."

I glanced at the candle in the middle of the floor. There was a spell book open beside Amelia, and her laptop was sitting open. The candle looked like it had been dipped in ink and then rubbed mostly clean. It was white with weird grayish streaks. "Then we both say 'lover lay down' and you blow the candle out. Got it?"

"Lover lay down?" I blinked at her, probably cocking my eyebrow a little bit. Seemed like a funny version of _abra ca dabra_ to me.

"Yeah," she nodded. Amelia smiled at me quizzically.

"Fine," I sighed. Better not be any weird camera equipment recording me. I had the distinct impression that I was being teased.

Amelia read out the spell in a garbled language that I didn't know. But just because I didn't know it didn't mean it didn't sound really messed up and wrong. The way she spoke, it sounded to me like she was working the vowels around in her mouth before she recited them. I thought about interrupting her, but that could lead to me accidently being transformed into a cat or a frog or something.

At last, my part in all this came around. Amelia held up her handful of sand, and I did the same. She gave me a nod and we sprinkled the sand out over the weird looking candle. Even though I was pretty unsure about this whole spell casting thing, I did my part and said, "Lover lay down." I leaned over, possibly showing off a little too much chest in the process, and blew out the candle.

The world gave a little jolt, like I'd been kicked, and I fell backward, knocking my head rather heavily on Amelia's chest of drawers. A painful burning, throbbing sensation sailed down my spine and jarred through my skull.

Okay, ow.

"Sookie!" I heard Amelia yelp. The lights had gone out, and the whole room was dark. _Amelia, for goodness sakes, turn on the lights!_ But as soon as I'd said the words, I realized I hadn't actually said them. Okay. That's probably not a good thing. I felt Amelia's hands on my shoulders, and then I was wobbling back and forth. My lunch churned in my throat. You know those tilt-a-whirl rides at the fair? I was on one of those. It was not what one might call a good time.

"Do over!" I heard Amelia again. I'd stopped shaking. I still felt a little sick. My head ached and I prayed to the Lord above for a big handful of Tylenol. _Okay Amelia, whatever you did to me, you need to fix it! I have a Viking to seduce!_

I was shaking again. Wobble wobble wobble, like one of those Weebles in the television commercials of my youth. Weebles wobble but they don't fall down. Wow, I was out of it.

"Octavia!" Amelia was yelling in one of those high-pitched squeaky voices. Was Octavia here? I couldn't hear anything else.

"I broke Sookie!" Oh. Maybe she was on the phone. _I'm not broken, Amelia. I'm…well, I don't know what I am. It's dark and I feel sort of queasy. _

"Sookie! I was doing a sleeping spell because I can't sleep and now Sookie is asleep! Help!" _I'm definitely not asleep. I can hear you for one thing. And if I were asleep, I'd be dreaming about something much, MUCH more entertaining than this._

"So I had insomnia, and you know how modern medicine doesn't work on me. I went onto the witch forums and I found this spell for people who love sleeping. Anyway, it called for a black candle rolled in tea powder and then ritually washed. And then you're supposed to sprinkle ritual volcanic sand over the flame. I didn't have a black candle so I painted one with water colors, then I did the tea, then the washing. Anyway, at the end, you sprinkle the candle, and say 'Lover lay down' and then your partner blows the candle out."

_Amelia! You _painted_ a candle black and used that in _place_ of an actual black candle? Look what you did to me! _I had a sudden and new respect for Bob. I wanted to strangle Amelia with my bare hands.

"Yeah! It's called Lovers of Sleep!" Amelia was going on. _Oh give me a break._

"Well what is it?!" Amelia was shrieking. Her voice was so high I thought my ears would start bleeding.

"Are you kidding me?" _What? WHAT?_

"True love' kiss? What, like Snow White?" _Oh come ON! True love's kiss? I don't have a true love! _And then, my mind shifted. _I'm going to be stuck like this forever!_

"There has to be another way…" _Oh yes, please. Please let there be another way._

"Yes, Ma'am," Amelia sighed. There wasn't another way. There wasn't another way?! I was going to be stuck in weird, dark limbo land forever? _Oh that's just great. GREAT!_

"Who do I call? Who loves Sookie? Okay, well there's the obvious answer, but she totally doesn't love him, so that's out." Amelia was pacing, and I knew that only because I could hear her footsteps on the floor when she came near me. I wondered who she was thinking about. _Bill? Bill loves me, but I don't love him. _

"Oh! I know! Sam! Sam loves Sookie! I wonder if true love means romantic love…"

_Sam?! You're calling SAM?!_


	3. Sam

**Lover Lay Down**

_Sam_

Good lord, will this day never end?

I was just drifting off to sleep at my desk (those accounting books make excellent pillows) when the phone rang. I debated whether or not to answer it. Sure, there was a small chance that someone might actually need me, but frankly, how much did I really care?

Every dog needs a good afternoon nap, and I'd missed mine. Friday nights were busy, but good ol' Terry Bellefleur was minding the bar until nine, and I only had a couple more hours to get some really good sleep in before things started picking up again. The phone kept right on clanging. Obviously these people, whoever they were, weren't giving up.

"Merlotte's Bar, this is Sam," I groaned into the phone. Answering phones is not my specialty. I can serve a mighty good Jack over Coke with ice. I can work my way around a catalogue of women's lingerie (yeah, like you don't use those Victoria Secret catalogues as fantasy fodder). I can even do the books if you give me a few hours and a big mug of coffee. But answering the phone is pretty much akin to a hole in the head, and frankly, I'll take the latter.

"Sam? It's Amelia, Sookie's roommate."

"Hey Amelia," I paused. Sookie had already gone home for the night. I looked at the schedule, and then at the clock. Yep. "Sookie's already gone home. Surprised she isn't there already."

"Oh, no, she's here. Uh. Okay," Amelia floundered. I sat up in my chair. It made a squeaking noise like a chew toy. Not that I would know.

"What's going on?" I wasn't worried yet. I mean, Amelia didn't sound exactly concerned. She sounded like she'd lost Sookie's favorite earrings, or maybe gotten Sookie's panties twisted into the dryer hose.

Why was I thinking about lingerie? Good grief, Sam, you need to get laid.

"Okay, this is…here's the thing," Amelia was babbling. I'd started watching this program on television about a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder. He always said "Here's the thing," but then he wouldn't tell you what the thing was.

"Yes?" I frowned at the phone.

"Okay so I put a spell on Sookie and now she won't wake up and only True Love's Kiss can wake her up and there's no counter-spell and you love Sookie and I thought maybe it wasn't romantic love but like friend love because obviously you're like Sookie's best friend and Sookie is like your best friend and I thought maybe you could come over here and kiss Sookie and since I fixed it so fast she wouldn't be mad at me."

I stared at the phone. In fact, I actually held it out and away from my head, looked at it, and then slowly put it back against my ear.

"What?" Did she say true love's kiss? Had I somehow ended up in a Disney movie where all the animals can talk?

"Sookie. In trouble. Sleeping. Need help. Please come over." Okay, she'd gone from motor mouth to condescending bitch in about fifteen seconds. Women.

"Right. I'll be there." I sighed. Amelia sighed in a shrieking sort of way. I hung up the phone with a click.

The problem is--I don't know what I feel for Sookie. I really hadn't had enough sleep to begin to think about what I thought about Sookie. I got up from my desk. The chair squeaked. I walked around the desk and grabbed my hat off the peg by the door. Then I sat back down. The chair squeaked.

Hm, WD-40. I wonder if I have some over at the trailer.

Sookie Stackhouse had been in my employ for about six years. I'd always thought she was beautiful, generous, sweet, and maybe a little ditzy. Then, I'd come to realize that the ditzy quality was just a cover for the telepathic ability that she kept close to the chest. I'd found a new kind of love for Sookie, the sweet and joyful woman who waited tables with complete contentment. I hadn't fallen in love with her until the murders, but I'd always been protective of her.

Couldn't tell you why I went from protective Big Brother Sam to Head over Heels in Love Sam, or how I got from one to the other, but it sorta happened like magic. Maybe it was because Sookie needed my help. Maybe it was because Bill Compton, the only resident vampire in Bon Temps, had started making moves on her. I could compete with a vampire, but Sookie didn't know that. Maybe it was because when I showed Sookie my own little gift, she didn't pull away or judge me or run screaming or just plain quit.

Okay, maybe I was still sort of in love with her.

Even though she seemed to get mixed up as all hell in vampire business.

But there were other men that loved Sookie Stackhouse. There were other men that probably loved her more. I knew one in particular. I stared at the phone.

Man I hate talking on the phone.

"Howdy," I said, trying to make my voice sound lighter. But it didn't really work. See, when you're talking to someone that you physically hate, it's hard to sound chipper. If I'd been a dog, I woulda snapped at him before I'd ever admit to needing his assistance.

"Sam," Bill Compton grunted on the other end of the line. What did Sookie see in this guy anyway? He brooded. He grouched. His hair was too dark and his skin was too pale.

And did I mention he drank blood?

"Yeah. Look, I wouldn't be callin' if it weren't important," I muttered in a drawl. I didn't want to sound anxious on the phone. Amelia had been anxious, but it wasn't like Sook was in danger. She was just asleep, apparently.

"Sookie?" Bill was already alert, like he'd been waiting for the cavalry call. I didn't know what the deal was between Compton and Sookie, and frankly, I didn't care a whole hell of a lot. If he'd hurt her, she would've said something to me. She hadn't. I figured it was just garden variety relationship shit.

"Yeah. Amelia did some kind of spell to her, accidently. She said something about true love's kiss or sumothersumthin. Anyway, she called me. But uh," Oh good grief.

"You think that I have as much cause to give her this kiss as you," Bill said in that stony perfect English that sorta jars your nerves.

"Yeah, that."

"I will be there."

Awesome.

I hung up the phone and grabbed my hat again. If Vampire Bill Compton was going, I was going too. There'd be no underrepresentation of non-vampires at this unusual get-together.

Fleetingly, I thought about grabbing a book. I mean, there'd be a long line of men waiting to kiss Sookie, right? That girl had only started dating a year or so ago and she'd raked in the men like the town slut.

Not that Sookie was a slut. Far from it.

She just has a quality, yanno?


	4. Bill

**Lover Lay Down**

_Bill _

_Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were._

Hm. I don't know. If Ms. Vivian Leigh is any indication of Scarlett O'Hara's beauty or lack of beauty, she certainly leans toward the beautiful.

I sat back against the aging sofa. The back creaked in a mildly disturbing way, and I sat up again. If I was going to be spending more of my time in this house, I would really need to begin furnishing it with some more comfortable, attractive, and modern furniture. Certainly, this particular sofa dated back to the late 1800s. Hopefully the legs would not give out until after I had finished the book. I did not have anywhere else to sit.

Contrary to what one might think, it is difficult for a man to read in a crawl space before he goes to sleep. Perhaps I could use some of my savings to build myself a room without windows. Eric had an entire house without windows. Of course, he lived in a much larger neighborhood, where that sort of unusual building situation could be ignored. In Bon Temps, the architectural codes were slightly stricter.

I couldn't concentrate on the novel. Thinking about Scarlett O'Hara made me think about Sookie Stackhouse. Vivian Leigh looked nothing like Sookie, but that didn't mean that they were not similar in other ways. Both Scarlett and Sookie lived in the Deep South, on moderately sized white-washed farmhouses. Scarlett and Sookie were both fiercely independent, determined to do anything within their power to keep their chins above water. Certainly, if Scarlett had been born in a different time, she might have been a barmaid or waitress or worked at some similar job which made use of her physical and emotional charms rather than her skill for engineering, mathematics, or science. Had Sookie lived during the War, she might well have been the daughter of a plantation owner, doting on the boys in gray before they went off into the field.

She would not have worn green as Ms. Leigh seemed to favor. Instead, she might have dressed in shades of blue plaid, or perhaps bright blue taffeta with hundreds of petticoats. She might have tied up her hair, keeping it off that beautiful white neck. The fashion at the time would have demanded that in the evenings she would wear a small strip of cloth around her throat, perhaps adorned with beads or a fine porcelain cameo. Her hands would be covered in a pair of thin lace gloves.

She would laugh in a melodious way that turned the heads of every man in the room.

But her delicate blue eyes would fall on me. I'd be home on leave, waiting in the corner of the room, outside the ring of her admirers. I am not a Rhett Butler, but an Ashley Wilkes, completely devoted and full of love for the woman who could be mine. I had once owned a double breasted tailed coat of fine black cloth with shining silver buttons. The vest beneath it would hold a silver pocket watch that I had taken when my father had passed. She would have met my eyes across the room, and I would have bent my head solely to her. That single gesture would have drawn her to me, like the bear to a jar of honey. Her lilting laugh would give my insides cause to tremble. She would fall in love with me instantly. We would make love in the carriage before I delivered her home. I would profess my undying love for her. We would be married at once.

The phone rang and I jumped out of my fantasy to answer it on the first ring.

"Howdy," a man's voice greeted me on the other end of the line. I stiffened.

"Sam," I replied shortly. Sam seemed to sneak into the world I shared with Sookie. He was not welcome there.

"Yeah. Look, I wouldn't be callin' if it weren't important," Sam continued. His drawl reminded me of some of the crass low-bred men who had lived out beyond the river.

"Sookie?" I asked, fearing suddenly for the woman who had once been in my care. I was already on my feet. Strangely, Sam did not sound concerned.

"Yeah. Amelia did some kind of spell to her, accidently. She said something about true love's kiss or sumothersumthin. Anyway, she called me. But uh,"

"You think that I have as much cause to give her that kiss as you," I replied. In fact, more cause. I love Sookie. You do not.

"Yeah, that."

"I will be there."

I hung up the phone.

I would give my life for Sookie. I had already promised Victor Madden that I would go to the ends of the earth for her, ne'er to return, if it meant that the universe would be forever in her favor. Sookie was mine. She was my charge, my responsibility, and she held my heart-what little of it there was. I had severely wronged her, and for that I could understand her distance.

But Sookie would come back to me in time. I had only to wait. And I would wait for her forever.

I sat back down on the sofa and leaned my elbows on my knees. I had more than severely wronged Sookie. I had hurt her in the kind of way that no man should ever hurt a woman. In Mississippi, I had done more than respond to the calls of my maker. I had been trapped in a trunk, hungry and barely aware of my surroundings. I had fed from her. I had had sex with her. I had not waited to ask for her permission.

I had violated her.

There was an ache in my blood that I could not explain, even to myself. These were things that I had done to the woman that owned my body and heart, the woman that had allowed me access to her heart, her body, and her blood. She was mine, and yet I treated her as less than a person, less than an animal. I had used her as an excuse for my own lust. It did not surprise me that she had forsaken me. Perhaps if my kiss awakened her, she would forgive me. I could live with my decisions if she would only find it in her heart to forgive me my transgressions.

Lately, though, my love had been visited by another, a man to whom I owed my fealty. I stared at the phone on the table once again. I had laid my book alongside it. Would Ashley Wilkes have called Rhett Butler to inform him of his lady's troubles? I was not sure. Certainly, he would think of informing Butler, but would he actually bring himself to do it?

Eric Northman could be a dangerous man. Though I had told Sookie to seek him out should something happen to me, I could not say the same if I still walked the earth. Only if I were out of it, far beyond the reaches of reality and space, could I condone the letting of my love out to the Sheriff of Area Five. He was capable of much, and incapable of more. He had lived for over a thousand years, and I doubted that he was capable of loving Sookie the way I most certainly did. Do. Eric could never do Sookie's heart and mind and soul justice. He could never respect her. He could never claim her.

The blood bond was irrelevant. True love was in the heart, not in the blood. Sookie's love made my heart ache to beat again.

He did not love her. Thus, he was useless now. But I was not.


	5. Alcide

**Lover Lay Down**

_Alcide_

Bethany got up from the table when the phone rang. She looked a little perturbed and I couldn't blame her. Honestly, pack business tended to come over my cellular phone, but I couldn't count out business calls on the land line. Bethany trotted back into the dining room with a sour look on her pretty pink lips.

"It's some woman," she sneered at me.

"Which woman?" I asked, but she handed me the phone without another word. Well, there you go then.

"This is Alcide Heveraux," I said into the phone. I got up from the table. Bethany shot daggers at my back as I walked away. Hm. Definitely not getting laid tonight.

"Hi. Uh, my name is Amelia, Amelia Broadway. My roommate is Sookie Stackhouse."

"Go on." I was intrigued. Anything involving Sookie Stackhouse was definitely my business, whether Bethany liked it or not.

"Well, actually, I was just calling to see if you had a number for John Quinn." Her voice was small and a little nervous, as though she were afraid of what I might say.

"Um, yes," I said, straight-lipped. I knew the tiger had dated Sookie, but I hadn't enjoyed the thought at the time. I definitely didn't enjoy it now.

"Great. Thanks."

I paused and went into the office for my Rolodex. I sat down heavily on the chair and rocked back a little while I flipped through the index of business cards.

"What is this regarding? Is Sookie alright?" If she was in danger, I had a right to know. After all, I had been involved with Sookie at least as much as Quinn had, and I had certainly treated her better.

"Oh, no, she's okay. I mean, well," the woman stumbled over her words. It was as though she didn't trust me enough to tell me. But she trusted John Quinn? Obviously she didn't know the tiger very well.

"Please tell me, Miss Broadway. Sookie is a trusted friend to my pack. I would not hesitate to honor her or assist her in any way that she might need."

"Oh, no, don't worry. See, okay, I was doing a spell," I cringed. I did not like witches. "And it sort of backfired. I was trying to cure my own insomnia with this sleep loving spell, but instead, I sort of put Sookie under a sleeping spell for lovers. See, she can only be woken by true love's kiss."

Well, that was different. I found John Quinn's number in the card index, and I removed it. I was not sure if Quinn was still in Shreveport, or if he had gone on to another of his offices. How long had this witch been in Sookie's life? She obviously knew very little about the relationship I had shared with her roommate, and even less about Sookie's status within the Shreveport pack. I frowned and looked down at Quinn's business card again.

"Perhaps I should come to Sookie's aid." I said at last. Did I love Sookie? I was not sure. I certainly cared for her a great deal. I could have allowed myself to love her if certain events had not taken place. If Debbie had not died by her hand, I could have filled her with my body and my heart. She would certainly have chosen me over the vampires she seemed to flock to now. Their cold skin seemed to warm her, but I did not know why.

"Um, okay, if you think you can help," Amelia said uncertainly. She had not denied my presence. Her hesitance, I was sure, was only the fault of her ignorance.

"I can." I read her John Quinn's number and hung up the phone.

"Bethany," I muttered as I gathered my car keys and a map of the interstate.

"What? Pack business? It's late!" She whined at me. I was definitely not getting laid tonight. I might be spending my week on the sofa.

"I'll be back. It might be late, but I'll be back."

"Yeah, whatever," Bethany frowned at me.

* * *

_Yep, this is a short chapter. But don't worry, there's more coming!_


	6. Quinn

**Lover Lay Down**

_Quinn_

The phone rang, like clockwork, as soon as I'd slumped in front of the television. Couldn't ever seem to get a moment's peace, right? I picked it up with a grumble and stuck it against my head. They, whoever they were, could bend my ear while I watched TV right? Right.

"Hi, it's Amelia Broadway. I'm Sookie's roommate," she said. She had a high voice, like she was straining over some other sound. I nodded at the phone.

"Right. What's up?" Don't show any emotions. Sookie already told you she doesn't give a shit about you. Thus, you don't give a shit about her either.

Man, it's hard to lie to yourself.

"Well, the thing is," she was going on. I shut off the television. I couldn't concentrate on it anyway. There was a thing, with Sookie. And if I knew Sookie (and I did), it was probably a thing that involved trouble.

"Oh, she's in there," the girl continued. She obviously wasn't talking to me, but I listened anyway. Who was in where? Was Sookie okay? "Yeah, well, it's not like I could lift her! I was banned from magic!"

"Hey," I said, trying to drag the conversation back to the situation at hand, whatever it was. "Amelia? Can you tell me what's going on with Sookie?"

"What?" She regarded me at last, but it was like she had forgotten I was on the line. "Oh right, Quinn! Okay, so Sookie and I had a little mishap with magic."

Oh great.

"Okay, well maybe you could take her downstairs. I think she hit her head." Amelia was blathering on again to whomever she was with. I listened. Sookie had hit her head? Did she have some kind of magic-induced concussion?

"Look, if she has a concussion, you need to take her to the hospital," I frowned at the phone. Wow, I'd come home from a long day on the job only to have the most irritating phone conversation of my life.

"Oh they can't help her," Amelia said. I wasn't sure if she was addressing me or not.

"Who can't?"

"The hospital. This is a magic thing."

"What's a magic thing?" It was like pulling teeth.

"Oh! Right! Uh, okay, so I was doing this spell, and it sorta backfired." She paused again.

"Can you just take her downstairs, Bill? Careful you don't wrinkle her dress. It's brand new. She'd probably kill you. She'd definitely kill me." Pause. More blathering, this time a man's voice. "No! I mean, no, I don't think that's a good idea either. Better a wrinkled dress than no dress at all!"

"AMELIA!" I roared at the phone. This was just getting frustrating now. What the hell is going on over there anyway?

"Oh yes, Sam, I'd love one. Thank you."

Sam? What was Sam doing there?

"Sorry, Quinn, sorry. Look, essentially I put Sookie under some kind of spell, and she needs true love's kiss to wake her up. But I don't know which one of her admirer's to call for that kind of service, so I thought I would just call everyone."

Everyone? Who was everyone?

"Oh, just a spoonful of honey. That's delightful. Thank you." Amelia was going on again, talking to someone else. I wanted to reach through the phone and beat her over the head.

"Who is everyone?" I growled. Honestly, I couldn't control myself.

"Oh you know, Bill is here from next door. Sam is here, her boss, you know. And I think Alcide is on his way over. He gave me your number. Do you know anyone else I should call?"

"You want to know if my ex-girlfriend has any other old lovers that I think would be able to perform the kiss of life?"

Who is this woman?

"Well, it isn't the kiss of life. I mean, she's definitely alive. I can see her breathing."

I hung up the phone. This was too much.

So Sookie was in trouble. No surprise there. That woman got into more trouble than anyone I had ever met. She seemed to be a beacon for danger, mystery, and intrigue. Apparently she was also a beacon for men. I was one of those men. One of. One of multiple men. That had never bothered me before, but it bothered me now. What was it about this girl?

Maybe it was the fact that she was in danger so often. She needed a hero. I'm heroic. But that wasn't it, at least not completely. She was beautiful too. That helped. She was generous, selfless, kind. She didn't want to be taken care of, even if she really needed it.

She gave great head.

Okay, that was definitely a point in her favor.

I wondered if that ditzy girl she lived with had bothered to contact her family. Sookie didn't have much in the way of family, but Jason Stackhouse deserved to be notified. At least, if my opinion counted for anything. Yep, it definitely did.

But I didn't have Jason's number. On the other hand, I knew someone that did.

I picked up the phone again and hoped that this conversation would be better than my last. Honestly, nothing could be worse than talking to Amelia Broadway on the phone. Yeesh. No wonder her spell had gone wrong. I dialed the phone and shoved it against my head.

The phone rang while I collected my car keys. I grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl on the kitchen table. I got all the way out to the carport before the phone picked up.

"Good lord, man. This could be an emergency." I growled at the man on the other end of the line.

"Quinn. You disturbed me in the middle of dinner." Calvin Norris answered me.

"My apologies. Listen, do you think you could do me a favor?" I was already turning the key in the ignition. It would take a half hour to drive to Bon Temps.

"Within reason," Calvin answered noncommittally.

"You'll want to do this one when I tell you what it is," I told him. I punched the stereo so it would shut off. "Sookie Stackhouse got hit with some kind of weird love spell or somethin'. I gotta go over there and give her the kiss of life. Do you think you could call her brother? I don't think anyone has. He deserves to know his sis is in trouble, right?"

"What? Is she okay?" Calvin sounded worried. I knew they were friends.

"Don't know," I shrugged. I didn't. Talking to Amelia was like handling a hot potato. You had to keep dropping it.

"I'll do what I can." Calvin hung up rather abruptly. I threw the phone on the seat and devoted both eyes to the road.

I thought about what Sookie had said when we'd broken up. Shit, she was definitely coming first now, wasn't she? She was coming first for at least as many men as I could count on one hand. I shook my head.

She must give _really _great head.


	7. Claudine

**Lover Lay Down**

_Claudine_

Well, huh. That's different.

My pinkie toe was asleep. My pinkie toe rarely fell asleep. It is, after all, my most active and involved toe. It's the toe that tells me when my friends are in danger. Usually it doesn't fall asleep though. Usually I get kind of a burning sensation, or maybe a stabbing pain. One time it actually itched like crazy.

Oh, no, wait. The itchy feeling was a result of some pesky athlete's foot. Gross.

Now it was asleep. Weird.

I bent down over it and poked it with the end of my fork. Definitely asleep. Very, very strange to have your active toe fall asleep. It doesn't even fall asleep when the rest of my foot falls asleep. It's always awake. It's always ready.

Well, it's been awhile since I last visited Sookie. Maybe the toe is trying to tell me something. Maybe Sookie is having a really great dream! I could go wake her up and she'd tell me about it! Excellent. Excellent plan.

Sookie's living room was really crowded. For some reason, I was standing in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a shapeshifter (Sam Merlotte, Sookie's boss), a vampire (Bill Compton, Sookie's ex-boyfriend), a Werewolf (Alcide Heveraux, the leader of the Shreveport pack, who may I say looks quite good naked), and a witch (Amelia Broadway, Sookie's roommate). In the five seconds before I could even say a word, the front door opened and Calvin Norris (werepanther) walked in, followed closely by John Quinn, weretiger. Wow, talk about a full house.

"Hi Amelia!" I grinned. There was a pot of tea sitting on the coffee table. I wonder why they call them coffee tables if you serve tea on them. I poured myself a cup. It was lemon-flavored. I like lemons.

"Claudine!" Amelia beamed at me. She looked somewhere between worried, sad, anxious, and excited to see me. I honed in on the excited part. It helped me avoid the lusty stares of Mr. Bill Compton, vampire.

I don't like vampires much.

"What's with the house party?" And why wasn't I invited earlier? Bum toe or not, a fairy knows how to party. And don't you forget it either! I wondered if anyone would mind if I changed clothes.

"Oh, it's not a house party. I'm trying to fix Sookie."

"Fix her?" What was wrong with her?

"I sorta did a spell on her by mistake."

"Oh." Huh. Source of the toe sleepiness? Maybe.

"She's in this weird coma thing. I have to wake her up with true love's kiss. I think everyone's here now, so we're going to get started."

"True love's kiss?" Oh neat! I love those animated movies with the animals that talk. Come to think of it, I was in a room full of animals that talk. And, well, a vampire. That's like a dead thing that talks. Maybe they'd make a whole new movie about dead things that talk.

"Yeah. I wasn't sure who to call, so I sorta called everyone."

This was definitely everyone. Well, everyone minus one. I wasn't going to complain. The fewer vampires, the better.

"Where's Sookie?" I asked, but I was already on my way down the hall. Sookie was like a big ol' beacon. She just sorta shone like a light house. I puttered down the hall and slipped into her room.

"Ooh, Sookie! I love your dress!" Sookie didn't say anything.

"So there's this whole posse of attractive men out in the hallway. They're all here to see you. Can you believe it?" Sookie still didn't say anything. I knew she was listening.

Sookie always listens to me. Although, most of the time she isn't *actually* listening to me. She's just sort of nodding along. She's pretty independent. I'd be irritated with a lot of her choices if I didn't love her unconditionally. Maybe I could borrow her dress. It's pretty.

"So, everybody's waiting around to kiss you. I hope they have that minty fresh breath stuff. If someone smells like garlic cloves, I'm kicking them out. Seriously. No one, not even a girl in a magical coma, needs garlic breath kisses. That's just vulgar."

I peeked down the hall to see Calvin Norris plodding up it. He was first? Really? Maybe Amelia was putting them in line from least likely to most likely. I shuffled on the seat so he could get by. He looked at me.

"Are you staying here?" Calvin asked me wearily. Yep, big boy, I'm staying here. I'm Sookie's fairy godmother! True love kisses are sorta my specialty. Except, well, I don't know anything about them at all. But I'm not leaving her side!

"Sookie, this is Calvin. He's going to kiss you now." I'm a good narrator.

"Can she hear you?" Calvin asked me. His eyebrows went up so high; I thought they would disappear under his hairline. That would be neat!

"Sure!" Or if she can't, at least I'm making you uncomfortable. That's fun too.

I watched Calvin lean over her. He slid his hand under her neck and brought his face down to her lips. His clipped beard would have tickled her face. I giggled. Calvin just barely brushed his lips against hers. He waited. Nothing happened.

I stuck my head out the bedroom door.

"NEXT!"

Calvin walked back down the hall with his shoulders slumped. Alcide Heveraux was up next. He sort of glared at me. I glared right back, but I made sure to give him a big smile too. Fairies don't glare and I'm not very good at it. Besides, Alcide is well hung. If that's what Sookie cares about, she should totally go for him.

"Sookie, Alcide's next. He's goin' in for the big smoocherino!" I like to ad lib my commentary. Scripts are for weenies.

"Romantic," Alcide muttered. I shrugged at him. This was hardly the most romantic thing ever. I mean, come on! Let's all line up and take turns kissing Sookie Stackhouse, who by the way can't see you, and can't talk to you.

It was like a necrophile's wet dream. That's pretty gross.

Alcide knelt on the floor. He touched Sookie's cheek with his palm. It was pretty sweet. Then he kissed her, giving particular attention to her lower lip. Nada. He waited for a full minute before he tried again. Again! Like that was going to make a difference. Still nothing. I stuck my head out again.

"Contestant Number THREE!" I yelled. I have a very pretty yelling voice.

Alcide glowered at me when he walked out. I giggled. Sam was coming down the chute, like a cow on its way to slaughter. Or, you know, something less icky.

"Hi Sam!" I beamed. I like Sam. I like his hair. It's pretty and colored like strawberries in a field of wheat. Except manly. I wonder what Sam looks like in the nude. Sookie's seem him in the nude. She's so lucky.

"Hi Claudine." Sam half-smiled at me.

I shook his hand. "Good luck!"

Sam walked around Sookie's bedside. He looked sort of awkward. Had they kissed before? I didn't know. I watched, all on tenterhooks. Maybe this one would actually stick. Sam definitely had more potential than Quinn. Why hadn't Amelia sent the tiger first?

Well, okay, Sookie had actually dated Quinn. Points for him.

Sam touched Sookie's temple. He kissed her there. Then he kissed her lips. It was weird. It was like he was warming up for the actually important kiss. Nothing happened.

"Aw," I moped. "I'm sorry Sam."

I like Sam. He shrugged at me, touched my shoulder, and slid out of the bedroom.

"NEXT!" I yelled down the hall.

Quinn loped down the hall. He looked confident. He thought for sure his lips would do the trick, nevermind the face that Sookie had dumped him mercilessly because of his uber-big personal baggage. I totally agreed with the dumping. Quinn was nice looking, but that was all he had going for him.

"Babe," Quinn said to Sookie. I didn't even have to announce him. That stupid greeting would tell her it was him for sure. What a tool. "I know you can hear me. It's time to wake up."

And then he kissed her. He really went for it. He even forced his tongue between her lips. That was kinda sick. Who would want to kiss a limp tongue? Yuck.

When there was no response on Sookie's end, I did a little cheer. HAH! Sucker!

When Quinn walked out, Amelia came down the hallway.

"There's only one left," she said to me. Her eyes were full of worry. I patted her on the shoulder.

"Who is it?" I had no idea. I had really been rooting for Sam.

"Bill Compton."

"Oh. Right." There was no way I was staying for that. I stuck my head back in the bedroom with the rest of my body.

"Good luck Sookie!" I smiled. "Call me when you're back up and awake!"

My toe was still asleep.


	8. Sookie 8

**Lover Lay Down**

_Sookie_

Have you ever worked at a kissing booth at the fair? Gran had signed me up as an official kissing girl at the Descendants (of the Glorious Dead) picnic one year. I was ten years old then. It was strange kissing strange boy after strange boy, but I sure didn't kiss that many. Boys are a lot more innocent at the age of ten, but they're far from kind. Some of the boys didn't want to kiss me because kissing girls at the age of ten is gross. Girls and boys have cooties, and they aren't supposed to cross the gender barrier. It could be disastrous. That was something I could understand. Some boys didn't want to kiss me because I was the weird girl, the girl with selective ADD. I couldn't take tests, but I got A's on all my homework. I hated being in the classroom, or on the playground, but I always seemed to give the right answers on an oral exam or a multiple choice test. If you kissed the weird girl, you risked one of two things. Either you were stuck siding with the weird girl forever, or you risked becoming weird yourself. At ten, you had to learn to disassociate from the strange kids. They'd drag you down. Some of the boys only kissed me because their mothers pitied me. J.B. was the only boy that agreed to kiss me over and over again. He'd get to the front of the line and give me his ticket, and then a little peck on the mouth. Then he'd run to his mama for another ticket, get back in line, and wait impatiently for his turn to come around again. Every time J.B. kissed me, I'd get a distinct picture of his thoughts. J.B. thought I was pretty. He thought I was nice.

I love J.B. He still thinks that way.

Now I'm in the world's most unusual kissing booth, wearing a blindfold that I can't take off and handcuffs that I can't wriggle out of. No physical interaction at all with a seemingly endless line of male lips. Weird. I can hear Claudine's voice, but it's faint. She sounds perky, wired on a whole lot of those Pixie Stix candies that little kids covet. My fairy godmother announced my suitors, if you could call them that, the way an auctioneer might call out a new bid. Have you ever seen that show "This is Your Life!" Well, this was my entire history with the male sex. This is your sex life, Sookie Stackhouse!

I didn't know how Claudine knew that I could hear her, but I was glad she was making the effort anyway. It was the only way I could tell the difference between one set of lips and the next.

None of them did much for me. With Sam, I felt like I was kissing my brother. He was much nicer than Jason, much sweeter, but it was still a brother kissing a sister. It was awkward and fairly unpleasant. I wanted to stick out my tongue. I couldn't.

Quinn's kiss made me want to gag. If I had had physical control of myself, I would have vomited right into his mouth. Nasty. Was he really flicking my tongue with his? Was he some kind of fiend? Gross, gross, gross. Thank goodness I'd broken up with baggage boy. Yuck.

Claudine was wishing me luck in the world's quietest voice. I heard her pop right out of the room. _Wait! Come back! I need help! Don't leave me here all alone! _ What the hell was I going to do without her? _Amelia, as soon as I get out of this, you're .list._

There was a faint stirring and I had to strain to hear it. Straining to hear anything when you're immobile is an interesting and completely impossible task. I wanted to reach out and grope in the darkness, because everything was very, very dark. Of course, I couldn't. I laid there like a limp noodle and waited. That's what limp noodles do, you know.

"Sookie." Oh. It was Bill. I'd hoped…well, I had hoped it wouldn't be Bill in the stillness. But there he was, somewhere within my reach. This was the closest we had been (as far as I could tell) since we'd gotten far too close for my comfort in the trunk of a Lincoln in Mississippi. If I could have shuddered, I would have. I was capable of queasiness, so I had to settle for that. Bill Compton was my first love, my first lover, my first…nearly everything but a smooch on the lips. Now he made me physically and mentally and emotionally nauseous.

Great.

"I know that I have hurt you," he said. His voice was full of sadness. No matter what he felt, it was more painful to hear than it was to say. I guarantee it. I couldn't escape. I had to lie there like a lump and listen to his confession of guilt. More than guilt!

"I cannot take back what I have done to you. But, Sookie, you must know that I love you. I would die for you. I would meet the sun for you if you asked it of me. I am begging you to give me another chance. Allow me to prove how much you mean to me."

No. No more. I don't want to listen anymore. Stop talking. Go away. My eyes are burning with tears I can't cry. I want to reach up and slap you but my arms don't work. I can't see you, but I can't stop picturing you. It was dark and I couldn't see you but I could see you. Hungry. Hungry for anything in your reach and I just happened to be there. Meals on Wheels Sookie. That fucking trunk is stuck in my brain forever and don't you dare think that I'm going to forgive you. I don't care that it was bloodlust. I don't care that you were starved. I don't care, and I know you can't hear me, and I don't fucking (_fucking_) (**fucking**) care! Sometimes when I'm sleeping, I have nightmares about you. I killed for you, Bill Compton! I would have done anything for you! Look what you did to me!

Don't touch me! Don't come near me!

But I couldn't do anything to actually protest.

He kissed me. For a split second, just a split second, I was Bill's girl. I was lying in the grass and he was licking my forehead. He'd rescued me from the Rattrays and everything was okay. I had tasted vampire blood for the first time. I had felt strong and beautiful and all had been right with the world. I had been a different woman then. I was a different woman now. The memories faded. The nightmares returned.

I couldn't wake up.

"Sookie, please," he pleaded with me.

I was glad I couldn't wake up. I wouldn't let myself wake up to a monster in a car trunk.

I knew who I wanted at my bedside, even if he didn't love me enough to wake me from the spell. At least he could keep me company until Octavia could discover a Plan B. I'd wait forever, as long as I didn't have to kiss Bill Compton again.


	9. Eric

**Lover Lay Down**

_Eric_

The gravel driveway was full when I pulled up at last. What the hell? House party at Sookie's and I lost my invitation? Don't think so.

I parked alongside the mailbox and floated down the driveway to the house. No sense in dawdling. I was already late for the party. No matter how fashionable it was, I didn't want to miss the binge drinking and pretty party dresses.

The back door was open. Odd. Sam Merlotte was sitting on the porch. More odd.

"Eric," Sam said, inclining his head at me. I repeated the gesture cordially before I addressed the situation. No sense in being impolite.

"What's going on?" I asked, trying to sound calm and casual. It came out perfectly. I have had many years of practice.

"What do you mean?" Sam stared at me, his deep eyes hiding something I couldn't make out via his confused expression.

"Well, to be frank (actually, I'm Eric), I had expected to meet my—er, Sookie at Fangtasia this evening, but she did not arrive. And of course, there are about five cars in the drive, none of which I recognize."

"Didn't anyone call you?" Sam asked me incredulously.

"About what?" I dug in my pocket for my cellular phone to make sure I had not missed any calls. No. No missed calls. Now I was gnashing my teeth together.

"You better go on in and talk to Amelia." Sam pointed at the house with his thumb. I stalked past him.

The living room, Sookie's living room, was literally stuffed with men.

Okay. What the FUCK is going on?!

"Eric!" Amelia squeaked when she saw me. She bounced over to me, holding onto a mug of tea. The mug said _#1 Teacher!_ Hm. "Hey, I'm sorry. I meant to call the bar and tell you Sook couldn't make it tonight."

"Why?" I growled at the dimwitted witch.

"Oh, well, we had a little mishap."

"A mishap?" With what? I couldn't even think of a sarcastic comment that could explain the zoo of supernaturally affiliated men shoved into the small space that was the Stackhouse living room. The walls practically exhaled testosterone.

I'd never been to a penis convention. And now I could live the rest of my unnaturally long life without ever having to partake in the experience.

"Yeah, uh," Amelia frowned. She wrung her hands. This was getting me nowhere. I turned at the sound of footsteps in the hall. Bill Compton had emerged from Sookie's bedroom. He was en route toward us.

If vampires were capable of breathing fire, I would have done so right then.

Next best thing? Kill the bastard.

My hand crunched around his neck. We flew back down the hall from whence he'd come and I shoved him heavily against the door to the guest bedroom. The frame cracked under the pressure. I resolved to get Sookie a new one. There was a lot of money in the world. Sookie only had room in her life for one vampire.

"Compton!" I do not deny that I roared like an animal protecting its territory. "What the FUCK is going on?! WHERE is Sookie? What have you been doing in her bedroom? Why does your flesh reek of her?! ANSWER ME!"

"Eric—" Bill addressed me, as if he were surprised to see me. His voice was pathetic, whimpering, sad. I had a great desire to hurl him from the nearest window. But first things first.

"TALK!"

"Amelia cast a spell on Sookie," Bill said slowly. My unbeating heart sank into my gut. "It was an accident on the witch's part. She cast a sleeping spell on Sookie that could only be broken by True Love's kiss."

I dropped him. He crumbled to the floor on his knees.

"Amelia contacted these men that are tied to Sookie."

"Most of them," Bill frowned. "Heveraux came on his own. Norris was contacted by Quinn. Sam called me."

"You did not contact me." My rage could barely be contained.

"You do not love her." Bill retorted. He was struggling to his feet.

"She is BOUND to me!" Holding rage in is not an easy task.

"Love is of the heart, not the blood!" Bill growled.

"Obviously not. You would not be here if you had not failed her." You'd be in that room making love to her, as I intend to do.

"In a thousand years, how many women have you loved, Eric?" Bill raged right back at me. He threw up his arms. He extended his fangs. "You do not know how to love! What can you offer her?"

The insolent child had a point. I had not loved a woman in hundreds of years, if ever. I was not ready to cut short my life for her, but honestly, who would keep her safe if I did? Who would protect her? Bill Compton? He had already proved that he could not be trusted with my lover's heart. I was ready to love her. I already did.

"I will deal with your disloyalty later." And I would. Oh how I would. "Leave."

I could not get rid of the rest of them so easily. But I could shut them out.

The door to her bedroom fell open under the touch of my fingers. I had made love to her here. I had tasted her here. I had pledged myself to her here. For the first time in hundreds of years, I had felt happiness here.

With her. My lover.

Even in her sleep, Sookie was beautiful. Underneath the lingering musk of morning glories, I could taste the sweet scent of blood, but I could not see its source. She had pulled back much of her warm wheat gold hair, but tendrils of it framed her face like a halo. Much of her pink lip paint had been brushed away by the urgent lips of other men (I seethed), but her eyes remained smoky. Her skin had a pale bronze hue that made her hair appear lighter and richer.

The gown she wore was beautiful. There are no other words to describe it. A part of me wanted to rip it from her, to expose the sensuous skin beneath it. Another part of me wanted to lead her out among the men assembled in her home, to show off her beauty, to prove that she had chosen me. I could make them jealous. They had made me jealous.

I would not tolerate my own envy.

Her breasts rose gently and fell again. Nostalgia tugged at my empty lungs when she breathed. How I ached to breathe her breath, to be inside of her, to feel her soul inside of me.

It was a rush, like a drug drawn in through the blood stream.

Could she hear me? I wanted her to hear me.

"My lover," I whispered. I knelt down on the floor beside the bed. I took both of her hands in mine. Her skin was as soft as silk. "I am ready to be happy. I am ready to give in. I am ready to love you."

Her lips were warm, like blood straight from the artery. Her skin was cool to the touch, but still well above room temperature. I stroked the tops of her hands. I traced the road map of her veins. Was she kissing me back? Was that just my imagination?

I pulled away to look down at her. The smoky lids were still pulled down over her bright blue irises. How I burned to see them.

"Please, my lover," I begged her. My voice strained. "Look at me."

Her lips parted.

"Oh please," she breathed so softly that I could barely hear her. "Lover, lay down."

* * *

_Author's Notes: The title for this fic and the last line in chapter 9 come from the Dave Matthews' Band song of the same name. _


	10. Amelia10

**Lover Lay Down**

_Amelia_

She had planned to wring my neck, but the whole crazy night (which I will live on vicariously for months) had worked out in her favor, what with Eric Northman professing his undying love for her, and then, you know, all the sex.

Sookie met me at the breakfast table. I had been up all night, still plagued by insomnia, and made breakfast. There were stacks of guilty toast, plates of guilty eggs (scrambled, over easy, over medium, fried, and hard-boiled), two kinds of guilty pancakes (chocolate chip and blueberry), guilty sausage (links and patties), and guilty homemade, from scratch biscuits. I was going to send the left-overs to everyone except Bill Compton (who would be receiving a novelty mug and a case of TruBlood). Eric got Sookie. I figured that made us even steven.

"You're off the hook," Sookie said. She took eggs (over medium) and pancakes (one each) and sausage (links). She spread grape jelly on a biscuit. "But only because I think the spell worked out in my favor."

"I'm really sorry," I frowned. That was apology number fourteen.

"Apparently, the moral of the story is to make the True Love Kiss a relationship deal-breaker."

"I should have called Eric first." I had been thinking about that a lot. After all, I'd been up all night.

"Why didn't you?"

"Well, I actually thought about Bill first. But I only knew that Bill loved you. It had to be mutual, and I didn't know anyone you had mutual love with."

"Don't mention his name again." Sookie shoveled pancake into her mouth. I didn't ask for clarification.

"If Eric hadn't shown up on his own…" I sighed.

"You'd still be dead meat." Sookie concluded.

"Yep. And you'd still be sleeping!" Which negated her point.

"Yeah."

We both paused. I looked at my eggs.

"Let's never mention this again," Sookie said at last.

"You got it."

* * *

**The End.**


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